Little Black Dress -- Gyakuten no Regina（逆転のレジーナ）

 

The above is a trailer for the June 17th 2022 theatrical OVA version of one of the "Kaito Queen"（怪盗クイーン...Mirage Queen） novel series which began in 2002. Specifically, according to Wikipedia, the adaptation is of the first novel, "Kaito Queen wa Circus ga O-suki"（怪盗クイーンはサーカスがお好き..."Mirage Queen Aime Cirque"）. Additionally, from the website "My Anime List", I found out that the whole ball of wax involves a charismatic phantom thief queen who travels on an airship looking for treasure to pillage and adventures to experience. For this particular episode, the Queen has to match wits and guile with a bunch of talented and shrewd circus performers.

Now, I'd never heard of either the novel series or this particular OVA. The information came by when I was doing the research for its theme song "Gyakuten no Regina" (The Queen Turns the Tables) performed by Little Black Dress who also showed up on "Uta Con"（うたコン）a few nights ago right after Goro Noguchi（野口五郎）.

Back in the fall last year, I wrote my first article on Little Black Dress when she had appeared on "Uta Con" for the first time as a young musician who also enjoyed the old kayo. Her 2nd indies digital download single "Nora Ningen"（野良ニンゲン）from June 2019 had me thinking of Misia when it came to her vocalization, while the song had some Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）vibes. However, as for "Gyakuten no Regina" which is her 3rd major single that came out on June 8th this year, the NHK host introduced the song as an example of Reiwa Era City Pop. 

Hmmm...perhaps I'll have to hear some more examples of this Reiwa City Pop but I'll still throw in the label of City Pop since the composer is none other than Tetsuji Hayashi（林哲司）, a master of the genre's melodies (and he has already made an appearance on KKP earlier today). Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）took care of the lyrics with Akimitsu Honma（本間昭光）handling arrangement. But no complaints at all about the dynamic "Gyakuten no Regina" with the horns; there's something quite Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra here (with no ska, though), and I do like the suspense infused into it.